Chapter 68: Bluffs and Intimidation

The private soldiers below the walls were completely dumbfounded. 

“Th-the Elfin Lion Banner? What are they trying to do? Don’t they know the lord hated that thing more than anything?” The captain of the private troops was both shocked and furious. Pointing at Nolan atop the walls, he roared, “You bastards! Who the hell are you people?! Take that flag down right now! If the lord finds out, we’re all dead!” 

Nolan merely cast him a cold glance before making a move none of them would ever forget. 

He brought out two bulging burlap sacks from behind him. Holding one in each hand by the bottom, he walked slowly to the edge of the wall. 

Every eye below followed the motion of his arms instinctively. 

Then Nolan swung both sacks outward. 

The soldiers watched as the bags traced arcs through the air before crashing heavily onto the open ground before the drawbridge. 

Thud! 

Thud! 

The contents rolled free with a sickening tumble. And when the dust settled, the entire crowd fell silent as though struck by a muting spell. 

They were heads. Severed heads were hardly unusual to these men. Haus had never been known for his kindness. But this was different. 

One belonged to the man they knew all too well, the lord of Coldsteel City whom they flattered daily, Baron Haus. The other belonged to the invincible Gold-rank powerhouse they had revered as “the Executioner”, Captain Yuri. 

The captain’s fury and arrogance froze instantly on his face. His mouth hung open as though the muscles in his face had forgotten how to move. Behind him, the soldiers looked as if they had been struck by lightning. One after another, they stood rooted in place, unable to believe what they were seeing. 

The lord… was dead? Captain Yuri… dead too? Someone had murdered a noble of the kingdom? 

The formation instantly descended into chaos. 

Haus had been Archduke Demont’s youngest son. The soldiers themselves did not particularly care what happened to his killers, but as the private troops responsible for protecting him, they knew disaster had just fallen directly onto their heads. 

Amid the uproar, Nolan’s voice rang down from above, “Haus von Demont, hereditary noble of the Elfin Kingdom and lord of Coldsteel City, committed countless atrocities, colluded with undead forces, and conspired to overthrow the kingdom. By the authority of royal law, he has been executed on the spot! Witness to this judgment: decorated hero of the Southern Legion during the First Mandala War and recipient of the kingdom’s Silver Star Medal—Hank Corot! And I, Nolan of Shire, by merit of suppressing rebellion, hereby assume the title of Pioneer Knight of the Elfin Kingdom. From this moment onward, I officially take control of Coldsteel City!” 

Pioneer Knight? 

The title stunned the more experienced soldiers below, especially the captain and several hardened veterans. A Pioneer Knight was an extremely special rank within the Elfin Kingdom. It required no royal appointment, only merit. Every Pioneer Knight possessed enormous autonomy. But the title had not appeared for centuries. 

The captain swallowed nervously. He might doubt the Pioneer Knight claim, but recipients of the Silver Star Medal were genuine war heroes who had clawed their way through mountains of corpses. With a man like Hank standing witness, how false could it really be? 

Nolan caught the shift in their expressions immediately. 

The title was working. 

Of course, the old kingdom law did exist, but this “Pioneer Knight” title was entirely self-proclaimed. Still, in an age where information traveled slowly and truth depended largely on whoever spoke first, who was going to verify it? What he needed was precisely this gap in time: a grand enough identity, backed by a real war hero, to overwhelm them before they could think too deeply. 

“You men served as Haus’ private soldiers. By law, you should share in his crimes!” 

The sentence struck the already shaken troops like a bucket of ice water. 

The captain himself shuddered violently before dropping to his knees. “M-my lord! Sir Knight, spare us!” he shouted desperately. “We… we were forced into this! We had no choice but to serve Baron Haus! We’re just ordinary people trying to feed our families!” 

Nolan glanced down at him indifferently. “According to the law, all your rights should be stripped while you await judgment. But the kingdom now faces crisis, and no strength should be wasted. Surrender… or wait for my reinforcements to arrive and eradicate you alongside the traitors. I’ll give you fifteen minutes to choose.”  

With that, Nolan turned away without another glance and disappeared from the battlements, leaving only his cold retreating figure behind. 

Silence descended once more beneath the walls. The soldiers exchanged fearful looks, anxiety written plainly across their faces. 

A Pioneer Knight of the kingdom… and reinforcements? Anyone capable of killing a monster like Yuri surely wouldn’t command weak troops. 

Surrender? Resist? It hardly felt like there was a choice at all. 

The captain remained kneeling, sweat pouring down his forehead. He stared at the two heads lying on the ground, then up at the lion banner snapping in the wind above the walls, his thoughts in complete turmoil. 

Fight back? Fight with what? Even Captain Yuri, a Gold-rank powerhouse, had been beheaded. If they charged the walls, wouldn’t they simply be marching to their deaths?

But surrender… Who knew whether this so-called Pioneer Knight was telling the truth? What if it was all a lie? What if the moment they laid down their weapons, he slaughtered them all? 

Time crawled by second by second. Every moment felt unbearable. 

Above the walls, Little Donnie looked down nervously and whispered to Hank, “Old Hank, do you think they’ll surrender?” 

Hank took a long drag from his cigar before exhaling a thick cloud of smoke. “They will.” 

“Why?” 

“Because they’re afraid of dying,” Hank replied calmly. “And because Nolan gave them a reason they can’t refuse. To survive… and maybe even live better.” 

Ten minutes felt like an entire century for the soldiers below. Panic, suspicion, hope, fear, desperation for survival—all of it churned together through the crowd. 

“Captain, what do we do? Are we really surrendering?” one lieutenant asked shakily as he moved closer. 

“And if we don’t?” the captain snapped back angrily. “You planning to charge up there and fight that monster yourself? Did you not see Captain Yuri’s head?!” 

The lieutenant instantly shrank back. “But… what if he’s lying? I’ve never even heard of this Pioneer Knight title. If we hand over our weapons and he changes his mind, won’t we just become meat on the chopping block?” 

The captain’s face darkened further. That fear had crossed his own mind countless times already. Grinding his teeth, he glanced once more at the walls, then down at the severed heads on the ground. Haus’ vacant expression and Yuri’s frozen shock sent chills through him. 

“We gamble,” he said suddenly, slapping his thigh. 

“Gamble?” The lieutenant blinked. 

“That’s right. We gamble!” A fierce light flashed in the captain’s eyes. “We gamble that he’s a man who keeps his word. We gamble that he truly needs us alive!” He turned and raised his voice toward the others. “Brothers! Stop acting like frightened women and listen up! We’ve only got two paths left! One is charging those walls to avenge the lord and Captain Yuri! But ask yourselves honestly—how many times over do you think the people up there could kill us all?” 

Fear spread visibly across the soldiers’ faces. They knew their own capabilities better than anyone. 

“The other path…” The captain drew a deep breath. “Is surrender. I know what you’re all afraid of. You think he’ll settle accounts with us later. Hell, I’m afraid too. But think about it! If he really wanted us all dead, he wouldn’t waste time talking! The fact he’s giving us a chance means he needs us alive! Archduke Demont’s retaliation will come soon, no doubt about it! He needs cannon fodder. He needs people like us to fight and wear down the archduke’s forces!” 

The soldiers’ expressions began to change. 

He was right. Serving one master or another made little difference in the end. This new “Sir Knight” was terrifyingly strong, and he even had a genuine war hero at his side. Most importantly— 

He needed them. 

“The captain’s right!”

“If we’re risking our lives anyway, better to follow someone powerful!” 

Under the captain’s urging, the mood of the crowd rapidly shifted toward surrender. 

Seeing this, the captain finally steadied himself. He cleared his throat, adjusted his armor, then faced the walls once more and shouted with all the strength he could muster, “Sir Knight atop the walls! We… are willing to submit!”